Lone Gunmen: Another Shot
by shanejayell
Summary: In the aftermath of the end of the XFiles, Doggett and Reyes are made a unusual offer....


Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from X-Files or Lone Gunmen, they all belong to Chris Carter. Also, Doggett and Reyes are probably a bit OOC, my apologies in advance.

Lone Gunmen: Another Shot

"Well," John Doggett said as he finished packing up his desk, "ready to go?"

"No," Monica Reyes sighed, looking around what had once been their office in the X-Files. Now it had been stripped bare, the reconstructed documents shipped out, even the copy of Mulder's 'I want to believe' poster taken down. It was all gone.

"Well," Doggett gave her a sympathetic glance as the black haired, blue eyed man in a suit said, "it ain't like we have much choice."

"Got that right," Reyes sourly agreed as she picked up her own box of stuff from the desk and followed him out the door.

In the aftermath of Mulder's trial and disappearance Deputy Director Kersh had been forced to close down the X-Files once more, in part to save his own career from those that served the shadowy conspiracy within the government. He had tried his best to protect Doggett and Reyes, but in the end both had decided to resign, rather than give up the fight.

"So, how long do you think we have?" Doggett asked calmly as they walked to the stairs, their steps echoing.

"What do you mean?" Reyes asked mildly.

Doggett's lips quirked up a bit in a entirely unpleasant smile. "How long we have to live," he clarified as they made their way up. "The people after Mulder will come after us, too, if only to find out what we know."

"Thankfully we don't know much," Reyes said wryly.

In the aftermath of his escape from prison Mulder and Scully had gone underground, almost dropping off the face of the Earth. Reyes and Doggett had no way to contact them and no idea where they were, a safety precaution for all their sakes. What they didn't know they couldn't reveal, at least that was the theory.

They stopped talking once they reached the ground floor. Other agents of the FBI avoided their eyes as the two former agents passed, uncomfortable with the two leaving the fold. A few sneered, amused by the idea that the X-files had destroyed uet more careers, while finally one or two gave them covert, sympathetic glances.

"Agents," the heavy set Deputy Director Kersh stood by the door, the dusky skinned man looking at them with sympathy.

"This is a unexpected pleasure," Doggett said with thinly veiled sarcasm.

"Sir," Reyes looked at him curiously.

"You don't have to do this," Kersh said, "I can still keep you in the FBI, at least."

"And how long till the guys who got Mulder decide we're dangerous, too?" Doggett raised a eyebrow.

"I have enough power to protect you," Kersh insisted.

"I'm not sure I want to be protected," Reyes said gently, "I'd rather fight."

Kersh met their eyes, then nodded slowly. Taking out a sheet of paper he passed it to Doggett, "Then maybe this will help. Trust no one."

"Huh?" Doggett blinked as Kersh walked away.

"Isn't that a contradiction?" Reyes asked as they walked out into the sunlight, "I mean, he obviously expects us to trust him."

"Don't think about it too hard," Doggett advised as he lead them over to his latest in a long series of cars. .

Popping open the trunk they loaded their two boxes of stuff as Reyes said, "Thanks for agreeing to give me a lift, Doggett."

Closing the trunk Doggett shrugged, "Seemed the thing to do." He finger the paper that Kersh gave them, noting that it had a phone number on it for a local area code. "What do you think?" he held it out to her.

"Why not?" Reyes took out a cellphone and began to dial.

"That a regular phone?" Doggett asked, for a moment showing the sort of paranoia he often accused Mulder of having.

"Scrambled," Reyes answered, "don't ask me where I got it or I'll have to kill you." She listened a moment then blinked, "You're kidding."

"What?" Doggett demanded.

"Here," Reyes handed him the phone.

"Agent Doggett, my name is Jimmy Bond." The cheerful voice on the phone continued, "I represent the new Lone Gunmen, and I want to offer you a job."

Not long afterward a brown haired younger man met them in front of the building that housed the headquarters of the conspiracy paper, The Lone Gunmen. He was dressed well but still reminded one of a country boy, in a oversized clumsy sort of way.

"It's a honor to meet you," Jimmy smiled, eagerly shaking Doggett's hand.

Reyes fought back a chuckle at the pained look on her partners face. "When we talked on the phone," she began, "you said you could help us?"

"I think we can help each other," Jimmy nodded eagerly, "but you should come inside. You never know who's watching."

"I made sure we weren't tailed," Doggett said as they followed Jimmy in. He made sure his gun was ready to draw, he didn't get a bad feeling from the boy but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"The NSA has satellites that could read your lips," Jimmy noted cheerfully, "and the Star Wars platforms could fry us all."

"Star Wars was never launched," Reyes said as they walked down a hall.

"Sure, that's what they want you to think," Jimmy said as they reached a door, the words 'The Lone Gunmen' etched in the glass.

Inside was a scene both familiar and new. The previous Lone Gunmen had maintained a collection of unique gadgets and equipment for their work, much of which had been restored or replaced. A modern setup of computers and printers waited for the creation of the paper, and a full printing press was visible through a connecting door.

"Welcome," the black haired woman looked up from the documents she was studying at one of the desks, her face a attractive mix of racial traits. A smile, "My name is Yves Harlow."

"I remember you," Doggett said flatly. Both Yves and Jimmy had been major players in a encounter with Super Soldiers, an encounter that had ended with the deaths of the three original Lone Gunmen. He looked at Jimmy and her warily, "All right, what's going on?"

"We want to hire you as the writers and primary investigators for the Lone Gunmen," Jimmy said brightly.

"Interesting proposal," Reyes said skeptically.

"We are all aware of the work you've done in the X-files, as well as the work Mulder is doing," Yves jumped in, "we'd like to offer you the chance to continue that work."

"And how will writing the Lone Gunmen do that?" Doggett asked.

"We'll be chasing conspiracies and plots," Jimmy jumped in, "but you can also chase your own interests... like the alien's colonization plan."

"You know about that?" Reyes sounded surprised.

"Byers figured it out," Yves said with a sad smile.

"This doesn't seem to help us much," Doggett noted.

"There's one other advantage," Yves said seriously, "you both know there are figures within the government that would like to see anything connected to the X-files eliminated, including you. But these forces like to work in the shadows."

"Yes?" Reyes asked leadingly.

"A public pair of reporters for a well known conspiracy rag would be too onvious for them to hit," Jimmy smiled eagerly, "and your joining the Gunmen might make 'em underestimate you, too."

Doggett frowned, mentally chewing over the argument for a few moments. "What do you think?" he looked at Reyes.

Reyes smiled slightly, "We haven't got anything better to do."

"What the hell," Doggett looked at Jimmy and Yves, "we're in."

End.

Notes: I always hated how the Gunmen were killed off in X-files, only leaving Jimmy and Yves alive. I thought it might be cool if they continued the Gunmen, and with the end of the X-files Reyes and Doggett weren't doing anything. :) Yes, I'm aware Doggett would be giving the two Gunmen a harder time, but I wanted to wrap it up sooner rather than later.


End file.
